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Global To
Sell Midlands Stations
Global Radio has offered to sell a number of stations in the
Midlands in order to prevent its acquisition of GCap Media being referred to
the Competition Commission.
The company told the Office of Fair Trading it would be prepared to "divest
a package of radio stations" which would include it either selling its Heart
106 station in the east Midlands or continuing to operate it as a franchise.
It said it would also dispose of GCap's BRMB, Beacon, Mercia & Wyvern in the
west Midlands.
However, Global will not have to sell any of its London stations, which with
the addition of GCap's assets include Heart, LBC and Capital, because the
OFT concluded they all target different audiences.
"This group of stations [in the Midlands] represents a very valuable set of
radio assets," Global said in a statement.
The OFT said the divestments would "in principle ... resolve the OFT's
concerns by restoring competition to pre-merger levels in the Midlands".
Most of GCap's 71 local stations do not compete with Global's services,
although the OFT identified the situation in the Midlands as posing a
problem.
The OFT said Global already had "a substantial pre-merger presence" through
Heart in the east Midlands, and Heart and Galaxy in the West Midlands, which
overlapped with GCap's Leicester Sound, Trent, RAM, BRMB Birmingham, Wyvern,
Beacon and Mercia stations.
But the OFT said it had cleared the aspects of the deal that referred to the
London market.
23:45
August
08 2008 - waveguide.co.uk
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Torchwood Radio
Episode
A special radio episode of sci-fi drama Torchwood is to be
broadcast as part of BBC Radio 4's Big Bang day.
The station will broadcast from the European nuclear research facility in
Geneva on September 10 where scientists are to recreate the Big Bang
aftermath.
Presenter Andrew Marr will report on the day's events for Radio 4 which has
exclusive access to the site.
The episode of Torchwood will be set inside the European Organisation for
Nuclear Research (CERN).
The show's star John Barrowman will also appear in discussion with CERN
physicist Brian Cox.
Cox, a former member of chart-topping band D:Ream, will also talk to Alan
Alda, Eddie Izzard and comic actor Ben Miller - all of whom are particle
physics enthusiasts.
The moment just after the Big Bang will be recreated by the fastest atom
smasher in the world by scientists at CERN.
They are hoping it will give them an insight into the origins of the
universe and its composition.
The experiment will be launched live on the Today programme.
In a statement, Andrew Marr said: "This will be one of the greatest
scientific experiments, as well as the most expensive, ever conducted on
Earth, which - fingers crossed - will reveal truths about existence guessed
at but never demonstrated.
"The eyes of the thinking world will be watching CERN, which is why it will
be such a privilege to report there for Radio 4's special day."
20:45
August
08 2008 - waveguide.co.uk
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MasterChef -
The Professionals
Regular MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace and Michelin star chef
Michel Roux Jnr host a new series of MasterChef, starting on Monday, August
25.
This time the bar has been raised as the hunt commences for a
chef who can cut it at the very top of the culinary profession.
Experienced chefs are invited to show they have the skills, commitment,
palette and style to make it to Michelin standard.
Thirty-six qualified chefs must make it through two intense challenges in
order to qualify for the quarter-final round, where they must impress the
harsh food critics or leave the competition.
Two winners from each week's quarter-final will compete head to head in the
semi-finals, where they prepare lunch service in a two Michelin-starred
restaurant for the diners and the critical head chef.
Three finalists must then cook dinner for five of the most influential
restaurateurs in Britain and compete in one of the most daunting challenges
ever, as they prepare dinner for some of the best chefs in Europe –
including Alain Roux and Pierre Gagnaire. To pile on the pressure even
further, dinner guests include real Michelin inspectors. Finally, they
return to MasterChef headquarters for a final three-course cook-off.
16:20
August
08 2008 - waveguide.co.uk
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BBC Loses
Children's Details
The BBC has apologised after a memory stick containing
details of hundreds of children who applied to take part in a TV show was
stolen.
Around 250 children responded to an appeal for Gastronuts, a
new BBC One food programme for eight to 12-year-olds.
It aims to educate children about the way food is
grown, made and marketed and "will tell children how to stew worms,
catch farts in jars and bake toenail cakes".
A memory stick containing the information is
thought to have been stolen from a vehicle belonging to a member of
staff at Objective Productions, the production company making the
show.
BBC Children's Controller Richard Deverell wrote to parents
informing them that details such as names, addresses, mobile phone numbers
and dates of birth had gone missing.
Production on new CBBC commissions was suspended after the
theft was discovered and a review into security procedures was launched.
A BBC spokesman said: "This data was not lost by the BBC
itself, but stolen from an independent production company working for CBBC.
However we took the issue very seriously.
"There is absolutely no evidence this data has been misused
and the measures we took were entirely precautionary."
12:47
August
08 2008 - waveguide.co.uk
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BBC Wins FA Cup
Radio Rights
BBC Radio 5 Live has won the radio rights to broadcast FA Cup
and England international matches for a further four years, it was announced
today.
The deal with the Football Association starts from the beginning of the
2008/09 football season with the Community Shield between Manchester United
and Portsmouth at Wembley on Sunday.
Radio 5 Live and its sister digital station BBC 5 Live Sports Extra will
broadcast all of England‘s home international games and some friendly games
played away from home.
The deal also confirms 5 Live will have commentary on FA Cup matches for the
next four seasons.
Radio 5 Live will have live commentary of England's home games starting with
the friendly against the Czech Republic on 20 August ahead of the World Cup
qualification campaign next month.
Roger Mosey, Director of BBC Sport, said: "Securing the FA Cup and
international matches completes Radio 5 Live's unrivalled portfolio of
football commentary rights including the Premier League.
"The BBC believes it's important we offer free-to-air live coverage of key
sporting events."
11:15
August
08 2008 - waveguide.co.uk
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Sky One To Show Fringe
Sky One has acquired the exclusive UK television rights to
Fringe, the mew science fiction drama by Lost creator JJ Abrams.
The series, which was co-created by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who
worked with Abrams on the forthcoming Star Trek film, will tell the story of
an international flight that lands in Boston with all its passengers and
crew having met grisly deaths.
When investigators begin looking into the incident, they "discover that what
happened on the fatal flight is only a small piece of a larger, more
shocking truth".
Sky said the new series, which will debut on the revamped Sky One in the
autumn, would "thrill, terrify and explore the blurring line between science
fiction and reality".
Fringe stars Dawson's Creek actor Joshua Jackson; John Noble and Lance
Reddick.
David Smyth, Sky One's head of acquisitions, said: "We're delighted to have
secured the rights to Fringe, which we believe will thrill a new generation
of viewers much like The X Files did 15 years ago.
"Together with Lost, we're honoured to be the home for JJ Abrams' shows here
in the UK."
Jeffrey R Schlesinger, the president of Warner Bros International
Television, added: "This unique dramatic thriller is a perfect fit for Sky
One, which is a great UK home for Fringe, one of our most highly anticipated
television series of the new season.
"JJ Abrams and his partners have created a compelling series that has been
eagerly anticipated since its announcement, and we look forward to working
closely with Sky1 to make Fringe a hit with their audience."
08:52
August
08 2008 - waveguide.co.uk
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